Dak Prescott believes his racial background brings Cowboys together

Posted by Mike Florio on January 10, 2017, 5:52 PM EDT

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Cowboys rookie quarterback Dak Prescott has pulled the team together in a way that few can, primarily because of his racial background. He recently explained his ability to connect with all players in an interview with Lorenzo Reyes of USA Today.

“I grew up in Haughton, Louisiana,” Prescott said. “I go to my white grandparents’ house, and then I cross the railroad tracks and hang out with my black grandma. We have English teachers on my white side. My grandpa is a principal. And then you go to the other side and people have been in jail. I was put in all those different situations. I’ve been in situations where I was the only black guy. We’re in a time now where nobody wants to see that. But it still happens. Depending on where you come from, it happens. To be able to wipe that clean and see and live both sides, it’s just who I am. Being mixed allows me to connect with everyone.”

An unnamed white Cowboys player agreed with Prescott.

“Not to crap on Tony [Romo], because he has done so much for this team,” the player told Reyes. “But no matter how hard he’ll try, there are just some things that he can’t do, some ways that he can’t connect with some of the guys in here like Dak can.”

“Being bi-racial and being from the country, I can talk to guys like Travis Frederick from Wisconsin and Doug Free from Wisconsin,” Prescott explained to Reyes. “And then I can go over and talk to Dez Bryant. I mean, think about the two different standpoints you need to have a real conversation with both, to really understand what they’ve been through. I don’t think many can do it. For me, it’s not hard. I’m blessed because it’s natural.”

The racial background is just one of the factors that make it easier for Prescott to relate to all teammates. The more significant reality is that he seems to possess the emotional intelligence necessary to make a real connection with the various individuals with whom he works. Regardless of his racial makeup, having the ability to bounce from man to man to man to man and to know what to say and when to say it and how to say it becomes a key complement to Prescott’s football abilities.

This will be a hot button issue. One of the things that I have always loved about team sports is how it brings people together. I never think of race, religion or ethnicity when I am watching a game. I never think “nice block by the left guard on that screen”. “I wonder what his religious beliefs are”.

Dak connects with his teammates because he’s a good person. Joe Montana was the same way. There have been a lot of guys from diverse backgrounds who couldn’t connect. Oh, and one other thing. Dak and Joe could ball. That helps.

Being a straight white male, I don’t love this because I’d like to believe I can connect with anybody of any background, but it is indeed a reality. There’s a difference between “getting along” and truly connecting with somebody, and Dak does benefit from being biracial in a diverse NFL locker room.

As Florio pointed out, though, the color of his skin is only the tip of the iceberg. This kid is hard not to like, no matter who you are.

Does Tom Brady need a bi-racial background to lead his team? To talk to every player on the roster? You don’t need to connect with everyone, you need to communicate effectively and everyone needs to do their jobs. It’s a positive if you go 13-3 and a non-story if you go 7-9.

“I go to my white grandparents’ house, and then I cross the railroad tracks and hang out with my black grandma. We have English teachers on my white side. My grandpa is a principal. And then you go to the other side and people have been in jail….”
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Sounds kind of racist to me.

“We have English teachers on my white side. My grandpa is a principal. And then you go to the other side and people have been in jail. ”

This seems like an odd thing to say, because the way he says it seems to imply the difference is based solely on race. I’m guessing he said more than this. He does seem like a really good guy with great character.

PLEASE, ftlosg, Jerry Jones, Jason Garrett, Dak and everyone else in the Cowboys organization, please, shut the h### up and stop providing fodder for the media to twist. Even if these are direct quotes we nor the media need to hear about it. Something always gets lost in translation or perception. Just shut up.

Part of the problem in connecting is that both sides have to want to connect.

Sounds like some black players won’t connect with Tony cause he’s not at the very least half black. The comment makes it sound like Tony has tried. At that point, who’s fault is that…. It’s not Tony’s fault. It’s the morons in the locker room who are too damn backwards and racist, that they hold his race against him.

Then again, he’s not black so he must be the devil who wants to enslave them by trying to connect with them, right?!? I wonder what they think about Jerry or Jason.

People wonder why the country is divided.. it’s because of morons like this on all sides. People refusing to come together over freaking skin color. Never going to come together as a country and people until that mess is eliminated one way or another.

Why does the media perpetually push race into every conversation? It seems to be a deliberate attempt to try and separate us by the color of our skin when all anybody wants is to develop a friendship and respect for each other, regardless of skin color.

thefatlazygamer says:
Jan 10, 2017 6:29 PM
Part of the problem in connecting is that both sides have to want to connect.

Sounds like some black players won’t connect with Tony cause he’s not at the very least half black. The comment makes it sound like Tony has tried. At that point, who’s fault is that…. It’s not Tony’s fault. It’s the morons in the locker room who are too damn backwards and racist, that they hold his race against him.

Then again, he’s not black so he must be the devil who wants to enslave them by trying to connect with them, right?!? I wonder what they think about Jerry or Jason.

People wonder why the country is divided.. it’s because of morons like this on all sides. People refusing to come together over freaking skin color. Never going to come together as a country and people until that mess is eliminated one way or another.
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“myasylum11 says:
Jan 10, 2017 6:29 PM
The fact that he thinks he needs to talk to 2 groups of people differently, and separate into groups sounds racist in itself.

Granted he’s a young guy, but it comes of immature.”

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I disagree. I think his point was being able to relate to them, on a personal level. It’s easier to do, if there are common, shared experiences. Makes for better communication with people, and you get more comfortable with them, if there’s something you can relate to in addition to the reason you HAVE TO communicate.

The fact that he thinks he needs to talk to 2 groups of people differently, and separate into groups sounds racist in itself.

Granted he’s a young guy, but it comes of immature.
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It’s called finding common ground. For example, the conversations that I have with architects are largely different from the ones I have with concrete finishers. And almost always in different languages.

No question Dak has a high emotional IQ. Great leader and a serious guy.

No rookie QB has ever made the Super Bowl though and the road is about as tough as it could be. Rodgers first… Then either the likely MVP or the Super Bowl Champion Seahawks. Then maybe Brady or Ben. 9 Super Bowl appearances between the two of them.

Dak statement like that are why you should not be making statements.
Win get all the love,lose and you do not get any love. Did you stop and think that after 20 year of no SB’s and one is in sight maybe why everyone is communicating so well.
Congrats on great season, but don’t see Dallas holding any SB trophies real soon. Go Pats..

ariani1985 says:
Jan 10, 2017 6:02 PM
He is going to feast off the horrible Packers defense, 250 yards, heard it here first!
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In todays NFL I wouldn’t call 250 yards ‘feasting’ haha. What Rodgers just did to the GMen was feasting.

I expect a high scoring game; cowboys can’t defend Rodgers, he’s playing lights out right now.

“Didn’t we just have a highly educated president with the same background, who couldn’t pull people together in eight years?”

No, we had a president and administration who intentionally divided the nation, and not just by race. They also used gender and issues – basically, instead of discussing issues, just made fun of anyone who disagreed with them. It’s why they lost an election they should’ve easily won.

“Didn’t we just have a highly educated president with the same background, who couldn’t pull people together in eight years?”

No, we had a president and administration who intentionally divided the nation, and not just by race. They also used gender and issues – basically, instead of discussing issues, just made fun of anyone who disagreed with them. It’s why they lost an election they should’ve easily won.
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So you believe 8 years of obstruction beginning from day one of that administration, and soon after the birth of the tea party and its racist behavior had nothing to do with “people not coming together” instead after 400 years of slavery, Jim Crow, racial bigotry it’s all “Obama’s fault.”

Dak is living in a NFL fantasy world. In the eyes of White America he’s still a black man. The moment he’s observed driving or stopped by a cop, who doesn’t recognize his celebrity status, he’s still a black man. And there have been far too many examples of what can and does happen when stopped driving while black.

This feel goody all kumbaya locker room stuff doesn’t carry over to the real world unless it’s doing some charity work. Simply reading some of these comments that in their eyes Dak’s comments reflect that he’s a racist, that alone serves as a reminder that Dak has much to learn about what it is to be black in america.

A half black-half white man of 60 years knows the real america, and it’s not found in an NFL locker room. The country still has major race issues. And that’s simply reality.

So he is a mulatto. Big deal, they are all over the place.
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Yes, some 400 years after Slavery, every black person in america is “mulatto.” Or didn’t you study history and discover that the Master made conjugal visits with his slaves?

So the racist black players won’t play as well for a white QB then. Gotcha.
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No, but what he wanted to say and didn’t was, we’re all going to boycott the ‘racist white owners’ until there’s equal opportunity hiring in the head coach and GM ranks.

Didn’t we just have a highly educated president with the same background, who couldn’t pull people together in eight years?”
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Colin was adopted and raised by white parents. Obama was raised by his grandparents.

So Michael Bennett comments about how good Zenner is “for being a white running back” no one bats an eye! But Dak compares one side of his family to the side of his family and everyone loses their minds!

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250 yards is a feast? That’s just a snack for Tom Brady….
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250 yards is a feast, to a Viking fan. Do you realize how many 3 yard passes his qb has to throw, to get 250 in a single game?